Tag Archives: CEO

As we settle into 2016, it’s important for us to continue to develop new and positive habits. Our fearless leader, S’well CEO and founder Sarah Kauss, attributes much of her ability to successfully run a thriving company to one daily habit: journaling. For those of you who have yet to give it a try, journaling can be a great deal more rewarding than the ordinary “dear diary” scenario. In fact, according to recent reports, journaling can provide you with countless benefits, including stretching your IQ, evoking mindfulness, helping to identify and achieve goals, improving communication skills, strengthening self-discipline and sparking creativity. According to Sarah, journaling allows her to reflect on company progress or capture positive momentum in a more proactive way. Check out what she has to say on the subject below.

“Journaling allows the opportunity to step away from an environment bombarded with emails, phone calls, and messages. With journaling you actually have that space to be proactive and say ‘this is what I’m going to capture from this experience.’ This practice has not only been vital to running my business, but critical to upholding all of the qualities I want my team to embrace. By taking time for careful reflection, leaders can assess their reactions to situations, the dynamics amongst the team, and the overall level of engagement as it relates to employee interactions and company morale. More than that, it has given me the focus to identify my strengths and the activities that bring me the greatest joy. Surprisingly, the least glamorous tasks of my professional career to date have been some of my career highlights. I have gleaned many lessons about where I can be most engaged and therefore most successful in the workplace. Journaling has also given me patience and sharpened my ability to plan. Although it can seem that I’m making only baby steps of progress — and, yes, sometimes going sideways or even backwards before moving forward — my journal is an independent arbiter (and a silent cheerleader). There will always be more progress to make, but for me it is important to know that I am moving closer to my goals. I am always encouraged to look back and know how far I have come in a year’s time, and how major obstacles seem to become minor speed bumps in hindsight. This record gives me great patience and perspective when new challenges come my way. Even now as a very busy entrepreneur, I can’t imagine not taking a few moments at the end of each day to record in my journal the progress made and my hopes and plans for the next phases of success.”
-Sarah Kauss